


don't need to dream

by BluebarrieMuzzins



Series: Around the League [25]
Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Anxiety Attacks, Crying, Cuddling & Snuggling, Established Relationship, Fluff and Angst, Forehead Kisses, Heartbeats, M/M, Nightmares, Protectiveness, feel like that one's important too, i don't really know if it is or not tbh, i'll tag it just to be safe though, just in case someone needs to avoid it
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-15
Updated: 2021-01-15
Packaged: 2021-03-13 06:08:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 761
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28773621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BluebarrieMuzzins/pseuds/BluebarrieMuzzins
Summary: “What happened,” he asked, voice thick with confusion.“Another nightmare,” Andrei said softly. He leaned down and kissed Dougie’s temple; it tasted salty from the sweat that had accumulated there.“Fuck,” Dougie swore and ran a hand down his face. He looked at Andrei, eyes still glassy. “All I remember is that someone killed you and threatened to kill me.”Cuddling up to Dougie, Andrei laid his head over the top of his boyfriend's quickening heartbeat. “I’m protect you. Nobody hurt you as long as I have breath in the body.”
Relationships: Dougie Hamilton/Andrei Svechnikov
Series: Around the League [25]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1666117
Kudos: 25





	don't need to dream

**Author's Note:**

> This exists partially because of my sister. She reblogged some stupid thing on Tumblr yesterday about what would happen if you mixed the last show you watched with the last video game you played. My creation was the Canadiens vs. Maple Leafs game and Breath of the Wild. That, uh. Made me think things about someone on the Leafs... and then I literally went and dreamt about it last night. It wasn't a nightmare by any means but, um. You really don't wanna know what it was either because it involved something specific from the video game and it was... a LOT. It is something I can turn into a fic, so, uh. Maybe you'll get lucky and get it... one day. When I'm not about to die of embarrassment over it. Anyway, this fic is just because I had the idea to write about someone being comforted after a nightmare. Hope you enjoy it!
> 
> If you found this by Googling yourself, are in this yourself, or know someone in this, please click back. No harm was meant in the creation of this fic. It's fictional and meant for entertainment.
> 
> Title from "Losing Sleep" by Chris Young

The comforter and sheets shifting around were what ultimately woke Andrei up. He glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand; it told him that it was 2:49 am. The comforter and sheets started shifting around more violently and an incoherent chant rose in his ears. 

Rubbing the blurriness out of his eyes, he turned over to face his boyfriend, Dougie. Much like Andrei had suspected, Dougie was the one shifting around and incoherently chanting. He had taken to death-gripping the sheets at his waist, knuckles appearing white from the sheer force. 

As Dougie continued to shift and chant, Andrei rolled back over to grab his phone. Fiddling with it for a minute led him to pull up a playlist of nature sounds that people had captured in Dougie’s home province of Ontario. Every time he was like this, hearing this playlist always calmed him down; it made his brain feel like he was subconsciously back in Ontario and that always made him happy.

When Andrei hit play, he placed his phone next to his boyfriend’s head. Andrei then began carding his fingers through Dougie’s hair gently; that was another thing that helped calm him down. It took a few minutes but Dougie started to relax; the death grip he had on the sheets being the first thing he relented. Shortly after the chanting ceased followed by the chaotic shifting. Andrei kept carding his fingers through Dougie’s hair until he opened his eyes and looked up at Andrei with a glassy-eyed expression.

“What happened,” he asked, voice thick with confusion.

“Another nightmare,” Andrei said softly. He leaned down and kissed Dougie’s temple; it tasted salty from the sweat that had accumulated there.

_ “Fuck,” _ Dougie swore and ran a hand down his face. He looked at Andrei, eyes still glassy. “All I remember is that someone killed you and threatened to kill me.”

Cuddling up to Dougie, Andrei laid his head over the top of his boyfriend's quickening heartbeat. “I’m protect you. Nobody hurt you as long as I have breath in the body.”

Andrei felt Dougie's heartbeat relax a little at that. Dougie brought his arms up and cradled Andrei gently. After a moment of silence, filled only with the incessant beating of Dougie's heartbeat in Andrei's ear, Dougie switched to cradling Andrei tightly. He began mumbling sweet nothings into his hair, breath hitching like he was crying. Andrei's suspicions were confirmed when he felt tears landing on his scalp and heard Dougie sniffle a couple of times as he continued to mumble. Andrei pressed a soft kiss above Dougie’s heart in an attempt to calm him down; Andrei knew that he had succeeded somewhat when he felt Dougie’s heartbeat and his sniffling calm down ever so slightly.

“You make me feel safe,” Dougie said, pressing a kiss into Andrei’s forehead.

Andrei felt his own heartbeat falter at that. In all of the times that he had helped Dougie calm down from his nightmares, he had never said that. Andrei wiggled backward a little, looking at Dougie. Dougie’s eyes were glassy from crying and full of love that Andrei could see that he held for him.

“You make my nightmares manageable. They make me feel broken; you make me feel whole,” Dougie said as the tears started falling harder down his face.

“Why’re you crying,” Andrei asked, taking his thumb and wiping the tears away. “You’re not broken, Dougie. Nightmares don’t make people broken. Nightmares just piece of picture that makes up puzzle. Without piece, you wouldn’t be completed. If your nightmares stopped, you’d have spend very long time looking for piece that fits perfectly into space vacated by missing piece. You’re you, Dougie Hamilton. And I’m love you, nightmares and all.”

Dougie pulled Andrei close to him, one hand on his back and the other cradling his head. He cradled Andrei’s body against him, rocking him back and forth gently. He pressed a couple of soft kisses to the top of Andrei’s head, a few tears landing there as well. When Dougie pulled Andrei back, Andrei noticed that Dougie's eyes were utterly glassed over with tears as he looked up into them. They were also wholly indicative of pure, unadulterated love.

Dougie pulled Andrei in for a kiss. Andrei happily kissed back, hands splayed across Dougie's chest. When they pulled back from the kiss, Dougie smiled softly and brushed a piece of Andrei's hair aside. He leaned in and placed a kiss on Andrei's forehead.

“You make every day of my life worth living. I’m never letting you go.”


End file.
